“Then find them.”
His lips curl slightly, not quite a smile.
“You give orders to everyone like that?” he asks.
“Only the ones who waste my time.”
That almost pulls a laugh out of him, but it dies before it fully forms.
Instead, he leans in just enough to close the distance again, his presence filling the space like pressure.
“You don’t want to push this,” he says.
“Watch me.”
A sharp call from down the line cuts through the moment, breaking the tension just enough that he leans back again, rolling his shoulders as if nothing just happened.
“Do what you want, Lieutenant,” he says, his tone easing back into something more casual. “Just don’t expect me to clean up after you.”
“I wouldn’t trust you to,” I reply, already stepping away.
“Smart,” he says. “You’re learning.”
I don’t look back as I move down the line, but I can feel his attention follow me anyway.
And the question doesn’t go anywhere.
It sits there, heavy and wrong.
Where is he?
The answer doesn’t come at the fence, so I go looking for it somewhere else.
The supply corridors beneath the border carry the layered scents of machine oil, recycled filtration systems, and chemical sealants that cling to the back of my throat. Overhead lights cast a steady white glow that flattens everything into sharp edges and long shadows, making it harder to read faces at a glance.
Voices echo ahead of me, sharp and overlapping.
“I’m telling you, that crate wasn’t logged?—”
“It was logged when it left, don’t pin that on me?—”
I round the corner and cut through it.
“Then both of you can explain it,” I say, my voice carrying just enough authority to snap their attention toward me.
They straighten immediately, the tension between them shifting into something more cautious.
“Yes, ma’am,” one of them says.
“Good,” I reply, stopping a few feet away. “Then we’re going to have a productive conversation.”
They exchange a quick glance.
“What do you need?” the other asks.
“Supply routes near the border,” I say. “Specifically areas with inconsistent surveillance coverage.”
The hesitation is immediate and obvious.
